Senior Colonel Tang Hongbo (Chinese: 汤洪波; born October 1975) is a Chinese fighter pilot and People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps (PLAAC) taikonaut. He flew on his first spaceflight to the Tiangong space station as a part of the Shenzhou 12 mission, the first to visit the station. He was the commander of the Shenzhou 17 mission, making him the first taikonaut to visit Tiangong twice.

Tang Hongbo
Tang in 2023
BornOctober 1975 (age 49)
StatusActive
NationalityChina Chinese
Alma mater PLA Air Force Changchun Flight College
Space career
PLAAC astronaut
Previous occupation
Fighter pilot, PLAAF
RankSenior colonel, PLASSF
Time in space
279 days, 10 hours and 43 minutes
SelectionList of astronauts by year of selection
Total EVAs
3
Total EVA time
22 hours, 3 minutes[1]
MissionsShenzhou 12, Shenzhou 17
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTāng Hóngbō

As May 2024, Tang has spent 279 days in space, and held the Chinese record for the longest spaceflight duration until surpassed by Ye Guangfu later in the same year.[2]

Biography

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He was born into a family of farming background in the town of Yunhuqiao, Xiangtan County, Hunan in October 1975.[3][4] He has a younger brother.[3]

Awarded the rank Senior Colonel, he joined the PLA Air Force in September 1995. Where he was promoted to the post of group commander at a fighter jet regiment. He was selected for the second group of astronauts at Nie's division in May 2010 then was chosen in May 2016 as an alternate for the two-member crew of the Shenzhou 11 mission.[5]

A pilot in the People's Liberation Army Air Force, he was selected into the People's Liberation Army Astronaut Corps in 2010.[6] He was part of the backup crew for Shenzhou 11, and flew as one of three crew members on Shenzhou 12, the first manned mission to the Tiangong space station.[7]

On 4 July 2021, Tang and Liu Boming, another crew member of Shenzhou 12, completed the first extravehicular activity of Tiangong space station.[8]

Later he flew again to Tiangong on the second mission and first as the Commander on Shenzhou 17 with Jiang Xinlin and Tang Shengjie on 26 October 2023.[9] On 21 December 2023 and 2 March 2024, he carried out his second and third spacewalks, which lasted for 7 hours and 25 minutes and 7 hours and 52 minutes, respectively.[10]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Tang Hongbo - EVA experience". 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Xinhua Headlines: Chinese astronauts return safely with six-month space station mission accomplished-Xinhua".
  3. ^ a b 神舟十二号载人飞船明天发射,这个湖南湘潭伢子要飞向太空啦!. qq.com. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  4. ^ Wang Mengmeng (王萌萌) (16 June 2021). 汤洪波同志简历. xinhuanet.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  5. ^ Jiang (江), Wei (巍). "Biographies of Shenzhou XII astronauts". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Cosmonaut Selection: China". spacefacts.de. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  7. ^ "China unveils Shenzhou-12 astronauts for space station construction". 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Shenzhou XII crew successfully conclude first spacewalk". China Daily. 4 July 2021. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  9. ^ "China unveils Shenzhou-17 crew for space station mission-Xinhua". english.news.cn. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Shenzhou-17 crew completes first spacewalk - China Military". eng.chinamil.com.cn. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
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